So what's it all about...

Being a typical Home Counties girl I've never really had any experience of Gypsies and Travellers and I must admit, if anything I held many of the common prejudices and stereotypical views. However, this all changed when I watched the documentary ‘My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding’. Let’s just say it was an eye opener! Branding itself as ‘offering a window into the secretive, extravagant and surprising world of Gypsies’ it certainly doesn't disappoint. And, for those who haven’t seen it here’s a quick clip just so you get the picture…

However, looking past all the skimpy outfits, big wedding dresses and fighting, a more profound tradition of the Gypsy and Traveller communities hit me…the importance of religion! Who would have thought that under all the fake tan, and not much else, were highly strung moral traditions influenced by a strict Christian faith.

It shocked me to learn that out of the estimated 300,000 Gypsies and Travellers living in Britain most are Christians, broken down into Romany Gypsies who follow the Church of England and Irish Travellers who are Roman Catholics. 

So it got me thinking, how can Gypsies and Travellers justify certain traditions and behavior which seems in such contradiction with following Christianity? Maybe I'm just looking at this as too much of an outsider, a more traditional Church of England perspective and should instead approach the possibility that Gypsies and Travellers follow their own unique form of Christianity. So what really is the Big Fat Gypsy Religion?